When choosing my buffalo equipment my choice was simple: I needed a heavy bow (greater than 80lbs.) I needed a simple and durable sight, rest, and release. And I needed very heavy and durable arrows tipped with razor sharp and extremely strong and heavy 2-blade broadheads. I had tested this equipment in 2006 for my first cape buffalo hunt, and I enhanced it in 2007 by making my arrows slightly longer and heavier, and adding 10 lbs of draw weight to my bow. For 2009, I used the exact same setup which consisted of the following equipment:
Cape Buffalo Equipment |
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Cape Buffalo have a heavy, complex skeletal structure with thick and wide overlapping ribs. Their shoulder blade is approximately 10mm thick and covered with up to 10" of solid muscle and hide. Like most African game, their vitals are relatively small (in comparison to their body size) while their stomach is disproportionately large and filled with fibrous grasses which trap and rapidly decrease arrow penetration.
Shot placement is far more critical on a buffalo than any North American animal. By comparison, an alaskan bull moose has an exposed vital area about 3x that of a cape buffalo. Buffalo are designed like tanks. They are low to the ground and have extremely dense frames.
For the most effective shot on a buffalo is dead broadside. A very slight quartering shot is acceptable so long as the arrow enters right around the front leg. Experienced buffalo bowhunters and PH's call this the "Triangle."
A heart shot is effective, but the best shot is a double lung. A gut shot will likely require a follow-up rifle shot, same with one lung or liver. While a buffalo will die from any shot into the organs, the danger factor associated with recovering animals with those hits is so high that most PHs will insist on a secondary rifle shot.
